


Only Ones Who Know

by guitarriffs (orphan_account)



Series: NonBinary!Cas 'Verse [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Destiel - Freeform, High School AU, Other, ace!cas, nonbinary!Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 17:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4068646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/guitarriffs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie looks at Dean incredulously as he shuts his locker and spins the combination lock. "Jesus Christ, don't tell me that you honestly don't know who Cas Novak is. Have you been living under a rock for the past two years?"</p><p>Dean shrugs and they begin walking toward the staircase in order to go up to the cafeteria. Charlie continues then, an obvious tone of condescendence in her voice. "They've been the top of the class since Freshman year, emancipated when they turned sixteen last year because their parents are conservative asshats, the face of the LGBTQA+ club here at Lawrence High, not to mention the fact that Cas is the most gorgeous person to ever walk through those doors."</p><p>"They..." Dean repeats. He's not an active participant in the LGBT community, but Charlie and Sammy are interested enough in it for him to pick up some facts here and there. "Non-binary, then?"</p><p>Charlie looks a little impressed. "I honestly thought that the things I rant to you about goes through one ear and out the other. Good job, Winchester."</p><p>Dean hums in response and the only things on his mind for the rest of the day are those unforgettably wide blue eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only Ones Who Know

_In a foreign place, the saving grace was a feeling that it was a heart he was stealing. Oh, he was ready to impress and the fierce excitement, the eyes are bright, he couldn't wait to get away. - Arctic Monkeys_

* * *

 

British Literature has got to be the most boring period of the day for Dean Winchester.

It's only the second week of junior year, yet Dean knows that he's going to have a miserable time in the class. The teacher, Mrs. Missouri, a kindly African-American woman with a slight Southern drawl, had passed out copies of Shakespeare's Macbeth in the first couple of days and Dean couldn't be any less interested than he already is. Nobody really pays attention to her lectures on the sister witches and their prophecies, but she gives them anyway: hour-long speeches half-filled with words Dean has never even heard of.

Thankfully, he sits in the back and has Charlie and Benny to keep him company.

"So, Dean, are you going to Homecoming dance with Lisa?" Benny says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and Charlie rolls her eyes. She stops pretending to follow along with Mrs. Missouri's reading of Act 1 Scene 4 and glares at Benny.

"Oh please, Dean's not interested in brunette airheads with the mental capacity of a potato chip."

They both glance toward Dean, awaiting his response on the matter, and he just grins sheepishly. "She's not all that bad."

Charlie scoffs at that and Benny gives Dean a descreet high-five under their table. However, Mrs. Missouri spots it from the front of the room and she frowns at them, lowering her copy of Macbeth from her face and cutting sharp brown eyes at the two of them.

"Winchester, Lafitte. I don't suppose there's something you've got to share with the entire class?"

There are a few snickers around the room and Dean notices that Charlie has averted her gaze back to the book.

"No, ma'am. Just formulating opinions on Shakespeare's genius." Benny gives her a wide smile and Mrs. Missouri looks back warily.

"Pay attention in my class, please. We've got forty more minutes left in the period, so I expect to see your book, a pen, and a notebook on your desk."

She begins reading again and Dean realizes he has none of those things in front of him. Though it's barely the end of the first month of school, his bookbag is a mess, filled with crumpled papers, old candy wrappers, and a single folder.

He's not exactly the most studious of students at Lawrence High.

He takes out the folder, substituting lined paper for a notebook, and rests his tattered copy of the play at the edge of the desk. However, he can't find a goddamned writing utensil in the mess that is his bag.

"Hey, Charlie." Dean leans to his left and Charlie shoots him a glare, glancing pointedly at the teacher up front.

"What in the hell do you want? You're going to get us in trouble," she hisses.

"Do you have a pen?"

"God, Dean, no. I keep my things in my locker. What's your excuse, you've been in school for a grand total of ten days."

Dean ignores her snide comment, being used to it by now, and instead turns to Benny.

"Benny, you got another pen?"

"Nah, brother."

What are his friends good for exactly? Mrs. Missouri's passing out an assignment and he's got no way of completing it without, you know, something to write with. He makes a mental reminder to buy some school supplies after school as he taps on the shoulder of the kid in front of him.

"Hey, dude, do you have a...?" He stops suddenly, finding himself at a loss for words because he's staring at possibly the hottest person he's ever had the pleasure of looking at. Sharp blue eyes, black hair upturned in a soft quiff and buried in a beanie (despite the warm weather outside), parted pink lips that give way to white teeth.

He blinks at Dean and his eyebrows crease in confusion. He looks annoyed, and Dean can't blame him because frankly, he's wasting the guy's time.

Dean knows he doesn't pay attention in this class, but he'd stop playing around a lot more if he'd known he would be able to see this face everyday.

"Do I have a...?" The guy echoes, studying Dean and prompting him to continue what he'd been saying, and Dean clears his throat.

"Castiel, Dean, stop talking." Mrs. Missouri appears beside the both of them, handing them sheets of paper with way too much words on it for Dean to want to do.

Cas turns back in his seat, no longer interested in what Dean had to say, and Dean rubs a hand over his mouth as he studies his assignment.

And he still doesn't have a goddamned pen.

* * *

"Who's that?" Dean asks at placidly as possible, nodding toward the end of the hallway as he replaces his AP Bio textbook into his locker. Charlie raises an eyebrow and looks toward where Dean had gestured to.

"Cas?" She says, cocking her head to the side and staring at Dean suspciously. "They sit in front of you in English, you know who Cas Novak is."

"They?"

"What?"

"You said ' _they sit_.'"

Charlie looks at Dean incredulously as he shuts his locker and spins the combination lock. "Jesus Christ, don't tell me that you honestly don't know who Cas Novak is. Have you been living under a rock for the past two years?"

Dean shrugs and they begin walking toward the staircase in order to go up to the cafeteria. Charlie continues then, an obvious tone of condescendence in her voice. "They've been the top of the class since Freshman year, emancipated when they turned sixteen last year because their parents are conservative asshats, the face of the LGBTQA+ club here at Lawrence High, not to mention the fact that Cas is the most gorgeous person to ever walk through those doors."

"They..." Dean repeats. He's not an active participant in the LGBT community, but Charlie and Sammy are interested enough in it for him to pick up some facts here and there. "Non-binary, then?"

Charlie looks a little impressed. "I honestly thought that the things I rant to you about goes through one ear and out the other. Good job, Winchester."

Dean hums in response and the only things on his mind for the rest of the day are those unforgettably wide blue eyes.

* * *

That weekend, Lisa Braeden throws a house party and invites half of the school, slipping a 'special' invitation in the creases of Dean's locker that promises some alone time when he gets there.

Charlie hadn't been invited- she wouldn't have went if she was, but he drags her along anyway. Benny's apparently meeting them there, but both Dean and Charlie have the feeling that he'd rather spend his Saturday night with his girlfriend Andrea.

"So, like seriously, what in the hell do you see in Lisa Braeden?"

Dean throws Charlie a _Seriously, this again?_ look as they step out of Dean's 1967 Chevrolet Impala and onto Lisa's lawn. People are already pouring into her reasonably-sized house, the smell of cheap booze and cigarettes already in the air. Luckily Lisa lives toward the outskirts of Lawrence and therefore under less police scrutiny, but Dean still gives it three hours before everyone gets busted for underage drinking.

And he'll definitely be gone by then. His Mom will murder him if he gets caught at an illegal party.

"She's cool, Charlie. And pretty."

"Wow Dean, didn't realize that you've set such high standards for youself."

"Oh, ha ha." He sticks her tongue out at her and they cross the open Braeden doorway, getting immersed in the sweaty, rowdy atmosphere. He can barely see anything, there are so many people, and he has to yell in order to be heard by anyone. Charlie latches onto his arm in order to keep close.

"Do you see anyone we know?" Dean yells out to her and he sees her shake her head. God knows what song is blasting throughout the house- some pop shit that Dean has no interest in- and he's beginning to get really irritated really quickly. Why is he at a crowded party on a Saturday night? Why can't he just go to the Roadhouse and drink milkshakes with his brother and best friends like he usually does?

Because he's an idiot who just wants to get into Lisa Braeden's pants, that's why.

But does he really?

"Do you see Lisa?" He asks Charlie as they continue to push through the crowd.

"No," she yells back. "But there's Cas! Let's go say hi."

Dean barely processes what Charlie has said before she drags him off to what looks like the dining room. There aren't as many people there, but there's still a line at the fridge for beers and a couple making out on a single bar stool.

Cas is sitting off to the side, on a dining table chair, with earbuds plugged into their ears and eyes transfixed on a phone. They look up as the two of them approach.

"Hey Charlie," Cas greets with a warm smile, nodding toward the bank of chairs on near the table. Both Dean and Charlie pull one up to sit by Cas.

"Hey, Cas. Never thought I'd see you in a crowd like this." Charlie grins and Dean finds it odd that he never knew that his best friend is also best friends with someone else. Cas shrugs.

"Lisa and I have been friends with each other for a while. I lived here when I was first emancipated, until I could save up enough money to buy an apartment."

Charlie looks appalled at this revelation that Lisa Braeden isn't a soulless idiot and Dean is positively smug with the fact that he's not _wrong_ for once.

"So yeah," Cas ends, gesturing widely to the rest of the bustling house. "Not exactly my scene, but Lisa wanted me here. So I'm here."

Cas lifts the mouth of a previously unseen Corona Extra to their lips and takes a short sip, causing Charlie to suddenly sit up straight. Her eyes dart around the room before they land back on Cas.

"Do you know where I can get one?" She asks, shocking Dean- and apparently Cas also, since they crease their eyebrows as they watch Charlie with steady blue eyes.

"There are a bunch of people crowded around the fridge," Cas says, gesturing toward the line that Dean had noticed when he first came into the room. "So if you don't want to deal with drunk teenagers, you can just go find Lisa. I think she told me that she's getting something upstairs and I know that she has an alcohol stash in her bedroom."

"Mm, thanks." And Charlie's gone, leaving Dean and Cas sitting across from each other. Dean watches her leave before turning back to Cas.

"That's weird, isn't it?" Dean asks them, his eyebrows creasing. "You know Charlie-she doesn't  _drink_ does she?"

Cas shrugs and lifts the bottle to their mouth again. "Not around me. Maybe she's stressed. PSATs are coming up, and junior year is the year that it really counts."

Dean still frowns, despite Cas' reasoning behind it. "I don't like it."

At that, Cas laughs, a pleasant, hearty sound that buzzes in Dean's ears moments after it's gone. "Yeah, me neither," they say. "I'll give her tonight though, she's been working hard and unwinding is something she  _never_ does. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow."

Dean nods gratefully, because he's never been very good at confrontation. Especially not with Charlie Bradbury.

"So- you and Lisa, huh?"

He looks up sharply, only to see Cas staring at him, their lips pressed into an amused smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"She invited you, right? She sure as hell didn't invite Charlie, so it had to have been you."

On any other day, Dean would jump on the opportunity to talk about Lisa Braeden. How he's barely spoken five words to her, yet he wants to take her to Homecoming, and how her hair is probably silky-smooth, and that her laugh is a little annoying but still endearing.

But he doesn't now, because he's engaged in conversation with Cas Novak, the one with the gorgeous blue eyes and soft black hair and awesome pink lips and he'd be damned if he wastes both of their time talking about _Lisa_. _  
_

"We're just friends," Dean brushes off, and finds himself moving to sit in Charlie's old chair, that's closer to Cas' than his is. "So, I am aware that I made the mistake of calling you 'dude' earlier today."

Cas raises an eyebrow. "It's fine, I am aware that 'dude' has transformed into a gender neutral term for most people."

But, Dean isn't having it. "No, you tensed when you heard me say it, and if you're not cool with it,  _I'm_ not cool with it. So, I'm going to have to choose another nickname for you."

"Cas is already a nickname."

"But Cas is no fun." Dean purses his lips, deep in animated thought, and Cas watches him with a wary smile. "How about bud?"

"That's terrible."

Dean laughs. "Okay. Um... _old chap_?" he finishes with a horrible British accent.

"No."

"Mate?" He queries with an Australian accent, lifting the second laugh out of Cas for the evening.

"Oh god,  _no._ "

Dean had been joking for the past couple of moment, but he  _really does_ want to be able to call Cas something in passing. Something that could be known only between the two of them because he  _wants_ that even though he barely even knows them. But that's the point, isn't it? To get to know Cas better? "Okay then." Dean's voice drops to a whisper, making Cas lean closer to hear him. "Angel."

Nobody says anything for the next couple of moments. Cas stares at Dean blankly, a touch of questioning in their eyes, and it takes everything Dean has to not look away. Cas blinks a couple of times and runs a hand over their mouth. " _Angel_?"

"Mmhm. Better than mate, don't you think?"

He stares at Dean oddly again, and Dean wonders if that somehow crosses the line. But he likes it-he _really does_ and 'Angel' is perfect for Cas. They'd might as well be one, and if Dean had believed in them, Cas would be his first point of reference.

Cas suddenly breaks out in a grin and takes another sip from their Corona. "Yes. Angel is nice."

* * *

Dean has decided that he doesn't want to take Lisa Braeden to Homecoming anymore.

He voices this to Benny, Charlie, and Sam the next week at lunch and Sam's the first to say anything about it.

" _What?"_ He exclaims, but not loud enough for anyone not in their immediate vicinity to hear. "You've been pining over Lisa since your sophomore year, Dean! It's finally a week before Homecoming and _now_ you don't want to take her?"

Dean just placidly chews his school burger. It's not very good, but it still satisfies his hunger. Slightly. "I haven't asked her yet, and I'm just saying that I probably won't."

Charlie gives Dean a strange look, but it's Benny that speaks next. "So who are you taking, then?"

Dean shrugs, as if he doesn't actually know who he'd rather take, and steals a fry from Benny's tray. Benny swats at him as he answers, "I guess I'll just see how it plays out."

"Maybe he finally realized that Lisa fucking Braeden isn't the best thing in the world," Charlie offers. All she has for a lunch is a bottle of water, which Dean suspects is due to her stressing out over the upcoming college tests, as Cas had suggested last weekend. "Maybe we could go together. I have to go anyway- I'm on the Homecoming committee, and I'd like to think that we're friends enough for us to go to the dance as a platonic couple."

"Hmm," Dean hums and he can see Sam shake his head at him out of his peripherals. Sam doesn't actually  _understand_ the process of asking someone to a dance, so what does he know? He's had a girlfriend since eighth grade. "Maybe."

After lunch, Dean has US History, so he heads for the staircase at the corner of the cafeteria. He notices Charlie following behind him, which is odd in itself seeing as Charlie has another free period after lunch.

"Dean, tell me the truth," she begins, climbing the stairs behind him. "Is this about Cas?"

Dean creases his brow. "What?"

" _Cas._ Castiel Novak, is this about them? Because if it is, please just tell me you're not going to do this."

"Do _what_ , Charlie?"

"You know you never had any actual  _intention_ for a relationship with Lisa. You were just going to take her to Homecoming, maybe get laid, and that's the end of that. Don't do that to Cas. They're a  _good person._ Cas doesn't put out because they're asexual, and they're my friend. Just don't do this."

Dean is suddenly on the defensive, stopping the two of them from going any further. He spins around to face Charlie with a stormy expression. "Is that  _really_ what you think about me?"

Charlie frowns deeply. "Dean Winchester, I've known you for the better half of my life and I know what you're like. I know that you haven't had a serious relationship at any point and that you've never intended on having a serious relationship at any point. I  _also_ know that you had no idea who Cas Novak  _was_ until a couple of days ago and now you've made them your new target."

" _Target_ ," Dean echoes dryly, utterly insulted at what Charlie's saying about him. _Yes, he gets it._ He gets that he barely understands the meaning of a monogamous relationship and that he sometimes only likes people because they're hot, but _Jesus fucking Christ,_ Charlie is supposed one of the people that see more than that in him. She's definitely not supposed to see the worst in him.

"I'm just saying, Dean." Charlie's voice drops to a considerate whisper and Dean presses his lips together. "If your intentions are anything but pure, leave Cas alone. You know that that's the right thing to do."

She spins around and she's gone, leaving Dean to fester in his own thoughts.

* * *

"Hello Dean," comes a warm, familiar voice and Dean doesn't have to turn around to know that it's Cas. Because of his and Charlie's interaction yesterday, Dean decided not to go to the cafeteria for lunch, but instead spend time in the courtyard behind the school. He hadn't expected anyone to come up to him though, and especially not Castiel. They're the last person Dean needs to see, in light of what Charlie had told him in the stairwell yesterday. He's conflicted and doesn't know _what_ he wants, so he hoped he could have some time to figure it out. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, well." Dean only glances up momentarily, forcibly making himself look back down at his sandwich because those blue fucking eyes are really making it hard to concentrate. "I'm a first-timer."

He can tell that Cas is staring at him before they ask, "Can I sit?"

Without thinking, Dean nods his consent and barely watches as Cas takes the seat on the bench next to him, resting their elbow on the table and their head in their hand to get a better look at Dean's face. After a couple of silent moments, Dean finally looks up at them.

"So, tell me Winchester," they begin, their gaze searching Dean's face with an air of concern. "What's the problem?"

Dean sighs, knowing that he can't exactly _vent_ to Cas since they're sort of in the middle of it. So, he decides to go with the hypothetical. "Okay, say that someone wants to ask someone else to homecoming but they don't know if they want an actually _relationship_ with that person because they think they're hot and that's basically all they know about that person."

Cas' eyebrow shoots up suspiciously. "Dean, are you talking about you and Lisa?"

Dean's confused for a second, the question _Who the hell is Lisa_ on the tip of his tongue before he realizes that Cas probably still thinks that he and Lisa are into each other.

So, he goes with it.

"Uh, yeah. Like, I want to ask her but I don't know what I want beyond a date to this dance. I don't want to hurt her or anything because of it."

Cas purses their lips, which is _completely_ unfair because now Dean's mouth is getting dry and all he wants to do is take Cas by the shoulders and kiss the _hell_ out of them, and replies with, "I can assure you that you needn't worry. Lisa's already got a date to Homecoming."

Dean has to force himself to look crestfallen because of the utter truth that he has ceased to _care_ about Lisa Braedan. All he wants is Cas but Charlie's warning keeps ringing in his head like fucking _gospel_ : _Don't do that to Cas, they're a good person._

"Oh, that sucks," Dean mutters dryly and pokes at his sandwich. "I guess I'm going to have to go with Charlie now."

"Or we could go together."

Dean's head snaps up at that, almost fast enough to give him whiplash, and he simply refuses to believe what he's just heard. Cas isn't looking at him anymore, their free hand nervously itching their hair through a blue beanie and their eyes averted to study the creases in the wooden picnic table. A pale red is creeping up their neck that looks suspiciously like a blush.

"Toge-" Dean clears his throat because apparently he's thirteen and suffering from his puberty-induced cracked voice again. " _Together_?"

"I mean, if you want of course. I don't want to assume anything about your sexuality..." Cas' voice trails off and Dean creases his brow. _Sexuality?_ The thought never even really crossed his mind. Dean's history would suggest him being heterosexual, but Cas is really their own gender, aren't they? And if Dean's being honest with himself, he doesn't really _care_ that Cas isn't a chick, or a dude. He just knows that he likes them...really, _really_ likes them and who _cares_ that Charlie thinks he's 'unworthy' or something.

"Hey," Dean says, moving the sandwich out of the way so he can rest his head on the table and look up at Cas' downcast eyes. They hesitantly find his. "I'd _love_ to go with you."

Cas rests their head on the table too and suddenly the two of them are _so damn close_  and no _fucking way it's legal for someone's lips to look that kissable._

"What did you call me at Lisa's party?" Cas' voice comes out in a low whisper. "What was that  _cheesy,_ 'gender neutral' nickname that you chose?"

"Angel," Dean replies softly, and swallows hard.

And Cas' lips are suddenly against his, a shallow but warm embrace that's tentative and uncertain. It's not very comfortable, due to the fact that they're leaning on a wooden table, and Cas pulls away far too quickly.

"I, uhm." They rise, readjusting their soft hat over their hair and nervously pulling their bottom lip into their mouth. "I've got organic chemistry on the top floor in a couple of minutes. So I should probably get moving."

Dean hums his response, studying Cas' reaction curiously. Cas sends him a warm smile and clears their throat. "I'll text you," Dean says warmly and Cas nods.

"Yes, that's a good idea."

They turn and shuffle back to the double doors that allow entrance to the building. Once Cas is out of sight, Dean takes his uneaten sandwich and takes a small bite out of it, in a much better mood than he had been starting the period.

* * *

Dean doesn't really know what to do in English the next day. Charlie isn't talking to him, Benny is actually trying to catch up with the Macbeth reading, and Cas hasn't said anything since they've come into the room. Dean actually remembers to bring a pen this time and even though his copy of the Shakespearean play is laid on the desk, open to the page Mrs. Missouri is reading from, he finds himself studying the back of Cas' head like a fucking stalker. He gazes at the way their hair curls at the base of their neck and how he can tell Cas had washed their hair this morning because of the damp strands sticking to their ear.

Dean feels his phone buzz in his pocket and, with a quick glance at Mrs. Missouri, he pulls it out to read the text.

**_Grey or Blue?_ **

Dean looks up and sees that Cas has their phone out under the desk so Missouri won't see.

**_Grey or blue what?_ **

Dean can hear the low vibration in front of him and patiently awaits Cas' reply.

**_Tie. Grey or blue?_ **

Dean thinks for a second.

**_Grey, definitely. It'll bring out your eyes._ **

He sends it and decides to type out at last minute:

**_You have gorgeous eyes._ **

Cas gets the text- Dean can tell from the same low buzz, and he's properly surprised when they turn in their seat to look at him. They smile, sweet and soft, and clearly mouth ' _You do too.'_

Cas turns back around in their seat, the entire interaction going unnoticed by Missouri. Dean just sits there with a warm feeling in his chest and it stays there until he realizes that Charlie is staring at him.

" _What_?" He demands, still peeved with their conversation days before.

"So you thought about what I said?"

" _Yes,_ and I decided that you're wrong."

Charlie sighs and runs a hand through her short red hair. She looks stressed- just as Cas had said the week before, and Dean suddenly feels bad about their ongoing fight. "Dean, I never meant to hurt your feelings. I just...I just want everyone to be happy and let's face it: I _know_ how you get. Cas is my friend too and I just needed to know that you realize they're not Lisa. They're not as  _disposable_ as you like to make people."

"I get that."

Charlie pauses, searching Dean's face for sincerity. "Good."

The rest of the period passes just as it usually does and Dean is grateful for the sense of normalcy. He doesn't follow along with what Mrs. Missouri lectures about today and he and Charlie are on speaking terms again.

He leaves the classroom as soon as the bell rings, knowing he that has gym next and that he's only given five minutes to change in the locker room, and is almost down the hall when steady, nimble fingers lock around his wrist.

"Charl-" he begins, sure that she has something more to say on the earlier matter, but when he looks back and sees the familiar face, he stops and grins. "Cas," Dean says as they pull the two of them off to the side of the hallway, by the bulletin boards and classroom windows.

"Is this okay?" Cas asks as their hands find themselves at Dean's waist, pressing them closer together. Instead of dignifying that with an answer, Dean just takes Cas' face in his hands and kisses them for the second time in two days.

Dean loves the way Cas' lips feel against his own and _definitely_ loves the taste of his mouth as their lips part against each other and work in a slow, thick movement, their tongues brushing against teeth, skin, each other.

They gradually break apart, with Dean placing small kisses at the edge of Cas' mouth. He's forgotten all about the rush he was in earlier, only wanting to stay here, with Cas.

"I'll text you later," Cas says, their thumb brushing against Dean's bottom lip.

" _Mmhm._ " And that's when Dean realizes that he can't get enough of Cas- of _looking_ at them, _talking_ to them, _touching_ them, _kissing_ them. If he didn't have an answer for Charlie before, he sure as hell has one now.

He is 200% invested in this. In _them_.

* * *

The day of Homecoming is a lot more hectic than Dean would care to admit. His parents fuss over him and Sam- more Sam though, since he's a freshman and new to this kind of thing. Sam had bought his girlfriend and date, Jess, a corsage, prompting Dean to ask Cas if that was their sort of thing. The quick reply had been _No, definitely not_ and they had left it at that.

Now, Dean can't seem to tie his tie right and Sam keeps freaking out over the car service that is supposed to pick him and Jess up. It's _Homecoming,_ yet he's acting like they're going to prom.

Dean leaves the house with ten minutes before eight, when the dance actually begins. Benny's going with Andrea of course and Charlie seemingly pulled a date out of her ass, calling just this morning to tell Dean that she doesn't need a ride anymore. But he's happy for her, hoping that an evening of music, food, and spiked punch could help her detox.

Dean pulls up in the parking lot of Cas' apartment building downtown. It's a nice area, with tall, bushy trees that are just starting to lose their leaves and a garden of different sorts of flowers that form a ring around the building. He enters the building without any problem, bidding a fair ' _Hello_ ' to the doorman behind the front desk, and he takes the elevator up to the fourth floor.

He follows the text message Cas had sent earlier to the door 4E and double checks that he's got the right apartment before ringing the doorbell.

Dean can hear some shuffling and the dangling of a chain being removed from the door as it's pulled open to reveal Cas, wearing a black tux with an untied bowtie hanging around their neck. They grin as they see Dean and gently take his wrist in their hand and pull him into the apartment.

"Are you early?" Cas asks as Dean takes in their home. He doesn't know what he was expecting, seeing as Cas is emancipated with a part-time job and still in high school, but he's impressed nonetheless. It's a small, cozy place: the living room is complete with a black sofa, a bookcase, and a small TV that's playing an episode of _Criminal Minds_ , there's a well-stocked kitchenette off to the right, and on the left there are two doors that Dean suspects leads to a bedroom and a bathroom. The entire place is clean, _much_ cleaner than Dean could ever hope of being, and he actually sort of loves it.

"A little," Dean replies, checking his watch. 8:09. "Well, no. It started about ten minutes ago."

" _Dammit,_ " Cas curses and moves their hands to fix the grey bowtie around their neck. They look at Dean. "I'm sorry."

" _Don't_ be." Dean's tone is soft and he comes up to stand in front of Cas to help tie the bowtie. Cas' hands fall helplessly to their sides as Dean adjusts it. "I mean, we can always stay in and watch crap TV."

Cas chuckles and smiles thankfully at Dean once the bowtie is fixed. "No, you want to go. So we're going."

"Okay, just throwing suggestions out there." Dean watches Cas disappear into one of the rooms and goes to sit on one of the barstools positioned by the kitchenette and sees a photo frame by the coffee maker. It's of a woman with curly black hair and vibrant blue eyes. She's smiling widely at the camera- no, _beyond_ the camera. As if her focus is at someone else.

"That's my mother," Dean hears Cas say as they reemerge from the bedroom. Dean's startled and feels like he's looking at something he's not supposed to be. "She's dead."

Cas says it so plainly, as if it's a fact separate from their life and they're just reading a page out of someone else's biography. Dean watches them pull on a tuxedo jacket, buttoning it until they've reached the lapels. They fix the cuffs, not really looking at him and Dean finally finds something to say. "My mom almost died. When I was four."

Dean mentally curses at himself after the words escape his tongue because _who the hell cares about Mary Winchester's near-miss when Mrs. Novak is already dead and gone?_

But Cas seems to take an interest in it anyway. "What happened?"

"It was a house fire, started by a lamp in my younger brother's nursery. She was able to get Sammy out safe, but she was burned _really badly_. She still has scars down her torso and arms because of it."

Cas is quiet for a moment. "Is she okay?"

"Yes." There's an uncomfortable pause that Dean decides to break. "What happened to your Mom?"

He's worried that he's definitely cross the line this time and Cas will ask him to leave and never come back. But, Cas comes away from the living room wall they'd been leaning on and sits in a stool adjacent to Dean's. Their eyes stare steadily at the picture as they reply, "You know- car crash. My Dad was driving drunk with her in the passenger's seat, yet she still took a lot of the damage when they ran into City Hall."

Dean had heard about that, actually. Four years ago, a crash in Town Square. One dead, one charged.

"My Dad served two years in county jail for manslaughter. My older sister, Naomi, watched over my siblings and I during that time and when my Dad finally got out, he'd married some woman. She'd basically become our evil stepmother. She's a bitch and I, being the youngest of us all, got the worst of it. Especially when I began identifying as non-binary. My Dad didn't mind at all- he and Mom had already had an inkling of what was going on with me, but his new wife flipped out. She's pretty much the reason why my father became insufferable and why I got emancipated."

Dean breathes sharply at the anecdote and rests a hand on Cas' knee. They finally look away from the photo and up at him, pressing their lips together in something that could be described as a smile.

The resulting kiss is different from the other two that they had shared. This one was needy, as if in the week that the two have known each other, they've found someone to ground them and they're cashing that necessity in now. Dean keeps in mind Charlie's words from earlier in the week: ' _Cas doesn't put out because they're asexual'_ and he finds that it's not very difficult to remember. He likes Cas more than he thought he did and he's perfectly fine being in an abstinent relationship. 

"Dean," they say lowly, moving away slightly to get their words out. "We should probably go now."

"Probably."

Yet they get lost in their kisses anyway and Dean realizes that as long as he gets Cas, he's perfectly fine with anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Honestly, I'm utterly surprised at the reception and while I was writing this fic, I was praying that I wasn't being offensive or wrong about everything. I've never written a non-binary character before, especially not one within Destiel, and I've been sort of sitting at home and waiting for the blowout.
> 
> But, there wasn't one and I'm glad you guys have enjoyed it. The next installment is coming soon, and will be posted not under this work, but as a new work under the series 'Angel.' Only Ones Who Know is already posted under the series, so it should be fairly easy to find.
> 
> xx


End file.
